Non-CPAP therapies in obstructive sleep apnoea: report of the ERS Task Force group

Symposium
Chairs: J. Verbraecken (Antwerp, Belgium), W. Randerath (Solingen, Germany)
Aims: The aims of this session are to:
- improve the knowledge on alternatives to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in sleep-disordered breathing (SDB);
- review evidence on efficient treatment options besides CPAP;
- identify patients to whom alternative methods can be recommended to demonstrate that critical selection of patients can improve outcome;
- evaluate the impact of the severity of the disease on the efficacy of these therapies.

What can we expect from conservative therapy in obstructive sleep apnoea? B. Sanner (Wuppertal, Germany)
Oral appliances: a valid alternative for CPAP? M. Marklund (Umea, Sweden)
Velopharyngeal and nasal surgery: adjuvant or curative? A. Valipour (Vienna, Austria)
Hypopharyngeal surgery in obstructive sleep apnoea: can we rely on the current evidence? A. Boudewyns (Edegem, Belgium)